SECTION
I ... HARDWARE TERMS

CPU= Central
Processing Unit. This is the guts of the computer and does the primary work
of computing. All computers work on 3 primary functions: Input, Processing and
Output. The CPU is the heart of the Processing stage. The CPU is mounted in
a circuit board called a Motherboard.

There are 3 major manufacturers
of CPU, namely Intel, AMD and Cyrix. You may hear special names for some like
Pentium and Celeron, both made by Intel. Cyrix was bought out by another company
and are no longer contenders. Now it's just Intal and AMD in a tight race.

Past CPU's had designations
like 386-16, 486-66, Pentium 90, Pentium II, Pentium III, etc. Current levels
are Pentium IV at speeds from 1.5 Ghz to over 3.0 Ghz. AMD designates theirs
as K6 or K7-1.5 to 3.0 and up.

CPU's vary by speed.
This is the second number in the descriptions above. The higher the number,
the faster information can be processed. Speeds above 500 are only needed if
you are processing pictures or other forms of graphics. The CPU speed has NO
EFFECT on e-mail transfers. So buying a new computer is not going to do much
for your slow Internet speeds unless you are still using a slow modem.

The box that contains
the CPU is frequently called the CPU because it contains all the components
that do the processing. The boxes are available in desktop and tower format.
Desktops usually sit under the monitor. Towers usually end up on the floor.

MOTHERBOARD=
This is the large circuit board that everything else plugs into. It carries
the electrical information between the various parts as the information is processed.
The various parts that may be included or plugged into it are the Modem, video
card, network card, and places to plug in the mouse, keyboard, scanners, cameras,
etc. These plugs are called Ports and are usually on the back of the CPU box,
although many computers have some plugs in front.

RAM= Random
Access (electronic computer) Memory. These are small circuit boards with some
parts called chips. These plug onto the motherboard and provide electronic workspace
for the jobs being done. RAM is temporary workspace and is cleared off each
time the computer is restarted. So if you have been typing a document and haven't
saved it and the power drops, you will lose any unsaved typing. ( keyboard shortcut
to save is CTRL-S)

Older computers may have
only 32 to 64 MB of RAM. (Really old computers with less than this are now obsolete).
Some inexpensive computers still are being sold with only 128MB, but anyone
buying a new computer today should insist on at least 256MB. 2016 now
4, 8 or 16 GB, not MB anymore.

MB= megabytes.
One byte = one character (A,B,C,123, ETC.) KB is 1000 bytes. MB is 1,000,000
bytes. GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes. RAM is measured today from 128 MB to 512 MB.
(Serious graphics computers can have much more) Typically the more RAM you have,
the faster things work (Except the modem).

Floppy disks hold 1.44MB
of data (about 80 pages of typing).

Zip disks hold 100MB
or 250MB. A 100 MB zip disk hold the equivalent of 70 or 80 floppies. Iomega
has released a new 750 MB zip disk, but it does not seem to be taking hold.

HARD DRIVE=
A box inside the computer that stores electronic data. The user has no access
to it. It is closed and not visible from the outside. Most computers have a
light that tells when the hard drive is doing something.

The size of the hard
drive is measured in MB or GB or TB. The larger the number, the more data it
holds.

Hard drives of the past
were under 3 GB (from 5MB to 3000MB) and are not adequate for today's jobs.

Most new computers come
with 250GB to above 6000GB. In 2016, new computers are never less than 500GB.

SSD Drive = a solid state
drive that can replace the hard drive or be in addition to it. The advantage
is the speed since there are no moving parts.

Hybrid drive = a regular
hard drive with an SSD section. This is not as fast as a true SSD but is less
expensive.

MODEM=
A device that sends and receives electronic data between computers. There are
different kinds of modems.

Telephone modems transfer
data over telephone lines and work today at top speeds of 56,000 bits per second,
although in Boulder City, anything over about 44,000 is exceptional due to distance
from Vegas and poor connections. All new computers come with 56K modems. Only
computers over about 5 to 6 years old have slower modems.

Cable modems work over
the coax lines that supply cable television to your house. Cox is providing
this service to most of Boulder City now. Transfer speeds vary depending on
the level of service you pay for, but the slowest cable speed is from 10 to
20 times faster than the best phone modem.

DSL modems. DSL means
Digital Subscriber Line and is a special high speed connection using the regular
telephone line. The monthly cost and transfer speeds are about the same as cable
modem.

Sprint and Cox are in
a constant competition. Look for deals to change monthly.

STORAGE DISKS:
The hard drive is a storage disk, but is not removable. The other types are
removable.

Floppy disk.
A plastic container about 1/8th inch thick and about 3-1/2 inches
square. If you tear one apart you will find a circular magnetic tape inside
similar to a record, except flexible (hence the tag floppy). Older ones had
no protective box and were real floppy. Touching the tape inside will render
it useless. Floppies are inserted in an opening in the CPU box and only go in
one way. Never force it. Always check the appearance before using. If the sliding
cover is bent or damaged and you insert it, it may never come out in one piece.
Floppies cost only pennies. Floppies are history. Windows 7, 8, 10 do not
support internal floppy drives. You can still add a USB floppy drive but very
few folks still have any need. We converted our embroidery machines over to
USB inputs now.

Zip Disk. Similar
to a floppy disk, but slightly larger and holds a lot more stuff. Cannot be
used in the same slot that is used for floppies. Many computers used to provide
a Zip drive for using Zip disks. A portable one can be added to any computer.
Zips come in 100MB, 250MB and 750MB. The disk size should match the drive size.
These are pretty much history now also.

Super Disk. This
is the same physical size as a floppy and holds 120MB (=90 floppies) and requires
a special drive. Super drives can read regular floppies. Super disks will not
go into a regular floppy drive. These are not very popular and hard to find.

CD, CD-R, CD-RW:
These are Compact Disks, round plastic and about 5 inches in diameter. They
are quite different from floppies. They are read optically by laser and touching
them will not make them unusable. They also require special drives to use them
in. A CD is a disk that stores computer data or programs or music that has been
made by a professional manufacturer. CD's hold about 650MB or the equal of about
400 floppies. One CD can hold the text from a 20 volume encyclopedia. (Without
pictures)

The CD-R is a blank disk
that you can record your own information on. You must have a CD-R or CD-RW drive
to record with. A regular CD will not record. It is only a player. After you
have recorded data or music on a CD-R, it is permanent and cannot be changed.
A CD-r can be used in any regular CD player. A CD-RW is recordable and rewritable
just like VHS tapes. CD-RW disks can only be used in a CD-RW drive. If you put
them into a regular or CD-R drive, they will be unusable. Many computers today
come with CD-RW since they read everything except DVD.

DVD. Digital Video (or
Versatile) Disk. These are the same size as a CD, but hold about 7 times as
much. Mostly used for movies today and the drives are just players. The latest
drives combine CD-RW and DVD which will write CD's and play DVD's. As of 2003,
DVD writers are coming down in price and looks like it will be the choice of
the future.

The term CD can encompass
all 4 formats and does not always refer just to a plain CD. It may also refer
to the player or the disk sometimes causing confusion.

DRIVE LETTER ASSIGNMENTS:
The computer knows how to transfer data from one place to another because of
giving each component a name. Computer names are real simple. The Hard drive
is called simply C. The floppy drive is called A. Older computers had a drive
called B but most new computers have no B. When other devices are added, such
as a CD, Zip or a second hard drive, they are assigned names from D to Z.

SECTION
II ... GENERAL COMPUTER TERMS

DEFAULT
= preset condition. Some defaults are preset by a program and cannot be changed.
Other defaults can be changed to an option chosen by you, the operator and will
remain the new default until something or someone changes it to a new default.
For example, the mouse pointer is set to a small size by Microsoft. You can
change that size and the pointer will remain that size until you change it or
reload Windows. To see how to change the mouse pointer and some other defaults
click HERE.

FIELD
= A data entry field. Usually a white box where you are expected to type information.

TYPING
CURSOR = The blinking vertical bar that shows where typing will be inserted.

MOUSE
CURSOR = Same as the mouse pointer. The mouse pointer takes on different
shapes to display the action available at the location of the cursor. For example,
placing the mouse pointer in a data entry field changes the pointer to an I
beam, indicating a typing area. If you wish to type entries here, you must click
the mouse to activate the typing cursor.

SYNTAX
= Properties of every character and space. Upper case and lower case are different,
comma and period are different. Incorrect syntax happens when a wrong character
is used.

PROTOCOL
= A language for communicating between two devices. Similar to an interpreter
to allow different people to understand each other when they speak different
languages. This defines a common language that allows communication.

SECTION
III ... WINDOWS TERMS

MINIMIZE
= A condition of a window that hides it from view but does not close it. Do
this by clicking the minus sign (-) in the right side of the title bar. Bring
it back into view by clicking on the button on the taskbar.

MIDIMIZE
= A condition of a window between minimize and maximize. Only in this condition
can the window be moved and resized. Identified by the icon in the title bar
between minimize and close. In the midi condition, the icon will look like a
single box. (Not a standard definition. This was coined by one of my students
a few years ago.)

MAXIMIZE
= A condition when the window fills the entire screen. No other windows are
visible and the icon in the title bar is a double box.

DROP
ARROW = a black triangle (pointing downward) to the right of a field
of information that drops a list of choices when clicked

HYPERLINK
= A special text or graphic that when clicked, shows a new window of information.
Usually identified by the mouse pointer changing to a pointing hand.

TOOLTIP
= A small windows (often yellow) that pops up beside the mouse pointer to describe
what that item does.

BROWSER
= A program that allows the user to surf the web. The program displays the contents
of a web page. Web pages are selected by the web address or URL or by clicking
on a link.

URL
= Uniform (or Universal) Resource Locator. Same as web address. Typical form
is http://www.barrett.net or may be ftp://ftp.aol.com or may leave out the www
and just be http://lorenbarrett.tripod.com See Web Page Address.

WEB
PAGE ADDRESS = Same as URL. Web page addresses must follow exact protocol
or syntax. Each character must be typed correctly. Using a comma instead of
a period will not work. SPACES ARE NOT ALLOWED. Each space must have a letter,
number, punctuation, dash, underscore, slash, but no empty space.When
typing a web address, you can skip the http:// since the browser inserts it
automatically. Some browsers also insert the www and the .com as well. You just
type CNN and you go to http://www.cnn.com. If you want a .org or .gov, you must
type them. I find it faster to type the www.zzz.com. Having to add the missing
information seems to slow thing down.

HYPERLINK
ADDRESS (or just ADDRESS) = The web address that is noted
in the hyperlink. Also URL.